Home Chocolate Making: Milk Powder Experimentation

My very first foray into the world of chocolate manufacturing consisted of three rounds that I did on a whim. The goal of these rounds was to determine which kind of milk powder I like using in my milk chocolate the most. These are the findings, along with the ratios you’ll need to follow along at home if you want to do so.

Building a Recipe For Chocolate

Once I obtained my ingredients, all at once I measured out three recipes worth of material. One part each of the same four ingredients was necessary: cacao beans, cacao butter, sugar, and milk powder. Like any good experimental chocolate maker, I made sure that all other factors were kept the same in my chocolate. All the cacao and cacao butter was from the same place & roasted together, all ingredients were added at the same time, all refining was done in the same place, the samples were all removed after a similar length of refining. I roasted all the cacao in two batches with the same roasting inputs.

Now some of you may be asking: why milk powder? Why don’t you just use regular milk? That’s where we get into the water content of milk and the lack thereof in milk chocolates. Although milk powders have different percentages of fat, the extremely minimal water content in all of them is the same, and one has only to adjust the recipe based on this fat content. In addition, if you’ve ever tried to make hot chocolate with real chocolate, you know that once you add a liquid to melted chocolate, it seizes up and gets clumpy. This is called “scaring” or “seizing” the chocolate. It’s also the reason why sugar is generally favored over honeys and other high-water content sweeteners.

My chocolates were all made with the end game of a 50% milk chocolate, and I used plain white granulated sugar, lightly-roasted Peruvian cacao, and Ecuadorian cacao butter, in addition to the three milk powders of choice. I tested each powder based on the range of fat percentage in them, my previous experience with chocolates made with each type of powder, as well as my expectations regarding how they would affect flavor.

The goat’s milk is a full cream at about 25% fat, the buttermilk is unexpectedly lower in fat at 15%, and the non-fat milk is self-explanatory. Just to remind you, I did an even 25% ratio of the milk powders to the other ingredients, so in the end my chocolates have vastly different fat percentages, with the non-fat milk one having 6.25% less total fat than the goat’s milk, though all of them were still edible. None of them were tempered, due to lack of equipment.

Unfortunately, my results were not definitive, and I have come to believe that each powder should be used in different situations, as noted below. Examples being different bean origins and roasts, or different types of sugar with different water contents. I’ve also included updated recipes for more ideal ratios of ingredients when making milk chocolate. Here are my results insofar as an amateur chocolate maker & reviewer would interp

After gathering my supplies, I weighed and measured the necessary components for all three recipes at the same time. It was essential to have one part of each of the following four ingredients: cocoa beans, cocoa butter, sugar, and dry milk powder. When I was making my experimental chocolate, I took care to ensure that all of the other variables remained unchanged. A competent experimental chocolate maker would do the same. All of the cacao and cacao butter came from the same location and was roasted at the same time; all of the ingredients were introduced at the same time; all of the refining was done in the same location; and the samples were all removed after being refined for a period of time that was comparable. I split the cacao into two batches and roasted it using the same equipment in each batch.

Some of you are probably wondering why we chose to use milk powder at this point. Why don’t you simply use ordinary milk? At this point, we start talking about the amount of water that is found in milk and the absence of water that is found in milk chocolate. Although various milk powders contain varying amounts of fat, all milk powders have an exceptionally low proportion of water, therefore the only adjustment that has to be made to the recipe is dependent on the percentage of fat in the milk powder. In addition, if you’ve ever attempted to make hot chocolate with real chocolate, you know that as soon as you add a liquid to melted chocolate, the chocolate hardens and becomes clumpy. This happens because the liquid causes the chocolate to form crystals. The term “scaring” or “seizing” the chocolate refers to this process. It is also the reason why sugar is often preferred over honeys and other sweeteners that contain a significant amount of water.

All of my chocolates were crafted with the intention of ending up as a milk chocolate with a percentage of fifty percent, and I utilized white granulated sugar, cacao from Peru that had been softly roasted, and cacao butter from Ecuador in addition to the three milk powders of choice. I examined each powder based on the range of fat percentages included within them, my prior experience with chocolates prepared with each kind of powder, as well as my assumptions about the manner in which they might alter taste.

The goat’s milk is a full cream, containing around 25% fat, the buttermilk has an unusually low percentage of fat, which comes in at 15%, and the non-fat milk speaks for itself. To refresh your memory, I used an even 25% ratio of milk powders to the other ingredients when I made the chocolates. As a result, the final products have very different total fat percentages, with the non-fat milk version having 6.25% less total fat than the goat’s milk version, despite the fact that all of the chocolates were still edible. Because we didn’t have the proper equipment, none of them were aged.

Regrettably, my findings were not conclusive, and I have come to the conclusion that each powder should be used in a different context, as will become clear in the following paragraphs. For instance, there are a variety of bean origins and roasting methods, as well as several kinds of sugar that contain varying amounts of water. When it comes to creating milk chocolate, I’ve also provided revised recipes that have more optimal proportions of the various components. My findings are presented here in the context of how an amateur chocolate maker and critic could evaluate them.

Goat’s Milk

It has a really creamy texture, but it also has this underlying spiciness, as well as a tiny dryness, that is unique to goat’s milk in my experience. Although it has a good depth of taste and goes down pretty smoothly overall, I think the next time I make it I will try to level out the recipe by using more cacao and less cocoa butter, maybe increasing the total percentage of cacao to 60%. It also has a nice depth of flavor. However, I am pleased with it and believe that after a few weeks of resting, it has matured into a good version of itself. Would make again.

Better Recipe: 50% Goat’s Milk Chocolate

500 grams of nibs made with cacao

cocoa butter weighing 500 grams

400 grams of powdered goat’s milk

600 g of sugar in total

Buttermilk

In addition to having a highly sweet taste and a chocolate flavor that is much less intense than that of the other options, this one is primarily distinguished by having an incredibly creamy tongue feel. I believe that this would be most appealing to children, and that it would be successful with any amount of cacao; but, if I were to want to appeal to someone who had an excessively active sweet tooth, I would probably choose a lesser percentage of cacao. I’d love to try out different kinds of sugar in this recipe to see if I can tone down the sweetness without sacrificing the overall flavor. In particular, coconut sugar or honey powder sounds appealing as a way to up the cacao percentage and boost the flavor punch, all while reducing the amount of sugar in the recipe without sacrificing the overall sweetness.

Better Recipe: 50% Buttermilk Chocolate

500 grams of nibs made with cacao

cocoa butter weighing 500 grams

400 grams of powdered buttermilk

600 g of sugar in total

Non-Fat Milk

There are definite undertones of chocolate, but the taste of the milk does not have nearly as much depth as the goat’s milk has. There are hints of a few other tastes, maybe berry, but they are completely obscured by the overwhelming sugar and fat content. I could imagine it being used with a cacao that has a more distinct or unique taste as a means to ensure that the flavor notes in that specific cacao are shining to the best of their potential. This is something I could see myself doing. I would use this to dull the sharpness of the beans, especially with cacao that is particularly nutty or particularly acidic, and to remind people of the appeal of milk chocolate that does not take advantage of sugar’s sickly sweet appeal. This is especially important when working with cacao that is particularly nutty or particularly acidic. If you are going to use non-fat milk powder, I would recommend using granulated white sugar.

Better Recipe: 50% Non-Fat Milk Chocolate

400 grams of nibs made with cacao

600 grams of cocoa butter in total

400 grams of powdered milk with no added fat

600 g of sugar in total

The astonishing thing is that even though there was 50% cacao, the only one that had taste notes other than “sweet,” “creamy,” and “cocoa” was the nonfat version. It’s possible that the excessive amount of fat in them was to blame, but even so, they were still really delectable. Any proportion lower than fifty percent makes absolutely no sense to me as anything other than a vehicle for sugar at this point. But I suppose it simply means I’ll have to adjust the recipe a little bit!

In what kinds of chocolate recipes do you call for milk? Would you ever consider using milk powder in its place?

FAQs

What does milk powder do in chocolate?

When milk fat is added to chocolate, it has a softening effect on the cocoa butter, which in turn causes the chocolate to become softer. Therefore, increased quantities of free fat from milk powder components could be anticipated to result in chocolates that are somewhat more yielding in texture.

Which milk powder is best for making chocolate?

Although it has a good depth of taste and goes down pretty smoothly overall, I think the next time I make it I will try to level out the recipe by using more cacao and less cocoa butter, maybe increasing the total percentage of cacao to 60%. It also has a nice depth of flavor.

Which method is used for making milk powder?

Evaporation is the process that removes water from milk during the manufacturing of milk powder. This involves boiling the milk at a low temperature and lowered pressure in order to remove the water. After the milk has been concentrated, it is sprayed in a fine mist into heated air to remove more moisture, which ultimately results in the formation of a powder.

How do they make powdered chocolate?

When cocoa butter is removed from cocoa beans, the process leaves behind slabs of roasted cocoa bean particles, which are then ground into cocoa powder. Because the pressing does not completely remove the cocoa butter, the particles continue to be covered with a thin coating of cocoa butter. As a result, the overall fat content of cocoa powder ranges from 8% to 26%.

How long is chocolate milk powder good for?

You did really read it correctly! When kept correctly, granulated sugar should be good for around 2 years, while cocoa powder should be good for approximately 3 years.

Why does salt make chocolate milk better?

In point of fact, the presence of sodium is required for these receptors in order for sugar to be transported into cells. Therefore, not only does salt activate the “salt sensitivity” of our tongue, but it also sets off an entirely other chain of processes in the taste receptors that are responsible for detecting sweetness.

What is the highest ingredient in milk chocolate?

Milk chocolate, like other chocolate, is made by suspending cocoa solids in cocoa butter and often other fats as well. For flavor and sweetness, sugar is added to the mixture. Dark chocolate has a higher cocoa percentage and may have no more than 12% milk solids. Milk chocolate in the United States must contain at least 10% cocoa solids and 12% milk solids.